I jerked to my left just in time to keep from being hit over the head by a dwarf with a shovel.
The shovel slammed into the coffin, and the clanggg reverberated through the air, making my ears ring from the sharp sound. I whirled around and had to duck back the other way to avoid getting hit by a second dwarf with a second shovel, and there was yet a third dwarf armed the same way standing behind him, ready to get in on the action.
Looked like the sniper in the tree hadn't been the only one lying in wait for me here today. I should have known it was too easy: that the dwarf falling out of the tree and then getting shot by all the bodyguards had been too simple to be anything other than a diversion - or an opening salvo. Looked like whoever was after me was a little more clever than I'd realized. Use one assassin to fool me into thinking the plan had completely failed, and then wait until I was alone to blindside me with three more.
It was just the sort of thing I'd expect from Jonah McAllister.
"Time for you to die, bitch!" one of the dwarves hissed at me.
The three dwarves raised their shovels once more and crept closer to me, penning me in against Mab's coffin. I looked left and right, but there was nowhere to go. I couldn't break through the group of dwarves in front of me, and I couldn't exactly turn my back to them and use my knives to hack my way through Mab's coffin - and whatever remained of the Fire elemental inside.
So I put my hands down on the polished gold handrails on the side of the casket and waited - just waited for the right moment.
The dwarves glanced at one another, then all rushed forward at once, ready to bash my head in and beat me to death with their shovels. I squatted down, then kicked up with my feet, managing to hop up so that I was sitting on top of the coffin - and I didn't stop moving. I used my momentum to swing my legs up as well and rolled over, slipping off the casket and landing on the grass on the far side. I landed awkwardly, my left knee twisting into the ground at an angle. I hissed as pain shot through my entire leg, but I pushed the throbbing sensation to the back of my mind.
Admittedly, it wasn't the most graceful move I'd ever made as the Spider, but it was enough to get me out of immediate danger.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The dwarves' shovels banged into the side of the coffin where I'd been standing, their blows hard enough to chip the polished wood. They'd easily put enough force into those swings to crack my skull wide open. My eyes narrowed, and a cold, familiar anger began to burn in my heart. Now it was time to show them that I knew how to play dirty, too - dirty and very, very bloody.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" one of the dwarves shouted. "Get her!"
I reached for my Stone magic for the second time that day, using it to harden my skin. Then I got to my feet and palmed one of my silver-stone knives. One dwarf hurried around the left end of the coffin while the other two scurried around the right side. I waited until the first one on the right was in range, then I kicked out with my left boot, catching him in the stomach and sending him lurching back into his friend. I hissed again as more pain pulsed through my knee and leg, but the two dwarves both fell down, which gave me a chance to focus on the third one coming at me from the left.
He raised his shovel high once more, ready to bring it down and bash my brains out of my skull, but I didn't give him the chance. I staggered forward, grabbed the shovel with my free hand, and then shoved my knife into his chest with the other. The dwarf yelped with pain and jerked back, trying to rip the shovel out of my hands and get away from my knife at the same time. But I tightened my grip, using my Stone magic to harden my fist around the wooden handle so he couldn't tear it away from me. At the same time I also blasted the shovel with my Ice magic, driving the cold crystals deep into the cracks in the wood. I twisted my wrist, sending out another burst of Ice power, and the handle snapped like a matchstick.
The dwarf froze, eyes wide, gaping at me. I used the opportunity to pull my knife out of his chest and slam it into his throat. Dwarves have thick muscles, but even a dwarf can't breathe with a blade in his wind-pipe - especially one I was twisting in deeper and deeper. Blood spurted out of the wound, spattering onto my face, chest, and hand, but I didn't care. The other end of the shovel slipped through the dwarf's fingers, and he went down on one knee. I dropped the part of the shovel that was still in my left hand, dug my fingers into his hair, pulled my knife out of his throat, and then drew the blade all the way across his neck.
He was dead before he hit the ground.
But I wasn't done yet.
I turned around - not as quickly as I would have liked, thanks to my bad knee, but fast enough to avoid getting hit from behind. The two dwarves I'd knocked down had gotten back up and were approaching me with their shovels once more, although they were doing so a little more cautiously than before.
I wondered if McAllister, or whoever had hired them, had told them that I'd be easy pickings. I might not be fully recovered physically, but I still had plenty of willpower - and an increasing desire to see these fools dead. All I'd wanted was a few moments alone with Mab to settle my thoughts and say good-bye, and they'd come along and ruined it. They were going to pay for that - more than they'd ever dreamed of.
The two dwarves paused and looked at each other as if they were considering running, but then they sucked up their courage and both charged at me once more.
They really should have run.
Chapter Seven
I limped forward to meet the dwarves, my anger overcoming everything, including the increasing pain in my knee. I managed to duck the first swing but not the second, and one of the dwarves hit me in the shoulder with his shovel. I grunted at the impact, but since I was still using my Stone magic to harden my skin, it didn't do any great damage to me. I immediately slashed out with my knife, slicing across his chest so deeply that I could feel the blade scrape against his ribs. More blood arced through the air and spattered onto both of us.
The dwarf screamed with pain, and the vicious wound surprised him so much that he dropped his shovel. After that, it was just a matter of me lunging forward once more, grabbing hold of his coveralls, and making several other deep cuts across his chest and stomach. When I was done, the dwarf was too busy trying to hold his guts in where they belonged to come after me again. I drew my knife out of his chest, then slammed my left foot into one of his knees, wanting him to experience the same pain I was enduring. The dwarf stumbled into the side of the coffin, smearing blood all over the sunburst rune there, and slid to the ground, screaming all the while, although his voice was already fading, right along with the rest of him. He'd be dead in another minute, two tops, which let me turn my attention to the third and final dwarf.